The government has secured a $7 million grant from the Green Climate Fund to help protect livelihoods and strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers and vulnerable communities in Northern Ghana.
The seven-year initiative, which will cover eight districts, is expected to support communities facing growing disruptions to agriculture, water resources, infrastructure and other economic activities as a result of climate change.
The Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, said the project was developed in response to concerns raised during engagements with communities on the effects of climate change on their livelihoods.
Her statement, read by Ruth Dzokoto, Deputy Director of Administration at the Office of the Minister of State for Climate Change and Sustainability, said climate change had become a major development concern with direct consequences for local economies.
“Climate change is consistently identified not simply as an environmental issue but as a development and livelihood issue affecting agriculture, water resources, infrastructure, livelihoods and local economic growth,” she said.
The project will promote climate-resilient agricultural practices while improving access to climate information and early warning systems to enable farmers and communities to better prepare for climate-related risks.
It will also create opportunities for vulnerable communities to access climate finance and support ecosystem-based adaptation measures aimed at strengthening their capacity to withstand environmental shocks.
According to Dr Agyeman-Rawlings, one of the key challenges identified was the limited capacity of local authorities to translate their knowledge of climate risks into practical and financially viable interventions.
She said local authorities often lacked the technical expertise, institutional support and predictable financing required to develop solutions capable of addressing the specific climate challenges confronting their communities.
“We also heard very clearly that our local authorities understand the challenges confronting their communities but often require stronger technical capacity, institutional support and access to predictable climate finance to turn their knowledge into practical and bankable solutions,” she said.
The government, through the Environmental Protection Agency, will therefore use the project to strengthen district-level capacity for climate adaptation planning and budgeting.
The initiative will further promote community participation and strengthen local knowledge in climate adaptation, with the aim of ensuring that interventions respond directly to the needs of affected communities.
Dr Agyeman-Rawlings called for stronger cooperation among government agencies, local authorities, development partners and communities to ensure that climate interventions produce tangible improvements in livelihoods.
She stressed that coordinated action would be essential to addressing the growing impact of climate change and building stronger and more resilient local economies across vulnerable communities in Northern Ghana.
